Some Ohio children with disabilities are regularly isolated in cell-like rooms, closets or old offices when they behave badly. The rooms are supposed to be used to calm or restrain children who become violent. But an investigation by The Dispatch and StateImpact Ohio, which is a collaboration of NPR and Ohio public-radio stations, found that they’re being misused.

A 17-year-old Ohio girl died in 2008 in a home for troubled children after her caretakers pinned her facedown on the floor. A ban on that dangerous type of restraint was decreed, and a task force was convened to make rules to govern both restraining and secluding Ohio children. There was a firestorm, and then ... nothing.

Teachers in schools across Ohio that have seclusion rooms get little training in how to use them. Teacher-preparation colleges don’t extensively cover how to seclude a student with special needs, either.

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How the story was reported

The
Dispatch and StateImpact Ohio sought public records related to the seclusion of students
in 100 Ohio schools and districts.

They were selected to represent all regions of the state and different school types: rural,
suburban, small city and large urban. Some were included because they had reported using seclusion
to the federal government or had larger populations of students with special needs.

All schools and districts were asked to provide records of the locations of seclusion or
time-out rooms, copies of policies that govern the use of the rooms, logs kept of room use or
incidents, communication to parents about seclusion rooms and records of staff training related to
restraint or seclusion.